News

IRS Commissioner Koskinen Faces Censure Vote Atop Impeachment Moves

By:

Chris Gaetano

Published Date:

Jun 15, 2016

On top of moves to remove him from office, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is now facing a potential censure from the House Oversight Committee, according to Bloomberg. The proposal, if approved, would censure the agency leader for obstructing congressional investigations into IRS conduct towards right-learning tax exempt organizations. The measure was released less than a week before Koskinen is scheduled to appear before Congress in a hearing meant to decide whether he should be impeached for the same reasons.

While impeachment is rare, censure is not exactly common either, especially for someone in the executive branch. To date, the only cabinet-level official to receive Congressional censure has been Augustus Hill Garland, attorney general during the first Grover Cleveland administration, who, in 1886, failed to provide documents regarding the firing of a U.S. attorney.

UPDATE: The House Oversight Committee has voted to censure Koskinen, according to Accounting Today. The measure would need Senate approval to become official, though Accounting Today notes that this is unlikely to happen.